Asheboro man arrested in fatal hit-and-run

ASHEBORO — An electronic message board near the scene of a fatal hit-and-run March 4 on N.C. 49 led to a tip that led to an arrest in the case.

Israel Bernal Velazquez, 20, of Asheboro was charged with felony hit and run Wednesday afternoon and placed in the Randolph County Jail under $10,000 secured bond.

According to a press release from the N.C. Highway Patrol, the N.C. Department of Transportation assisted in the placement of the message board near the accident scene. It provided information about the suspect vehicle.

Trooper Kelly Brooks, who investigated the accident, said Wednesday that initial assessment of vehicle parts left at the scene indicated that the suspect vehicle was a silver 2006-2011 Honda Civic. Brooks said further examination of the evidence pointed toward an Acura TL. Investigators also said the vehicle should have front end damage on the right.

Last Thursday, someone who had seen the electronic sign spotted an Acura with damage that fit the description. It was parked at a grocery store in Liberty. The person relayed information about the vehicle to the highway patrol. Brooks talked with the car’s owner and a forensic test was completed on the vehicle.

Brooks said none of the damage to the car had been repaired.

“He said he knew he hit something,” Brooks said, “but he didn’t know it was a person.”

Diana Lynn Rego-Lockamy, 35, of 6826 Lackey Road, Staley, was killed in the hit and run about 15 minutes after another motorist had called 911 to report that a woman was sitting in the middle of the two-lane highway and that she had barely missed hitting her.

The accident occurred about one-tenth of a mile south of a gas station/convenience store at the intersection of N.C. 49 and U.S. 421. The road is not well lit along that stretch, Brooks said, and Rego-Lockamy was wearing dark-colored clothing.

She had left the station on foot after an argument with her boyfriend, Brooks said. A few minutes later, her boyfriend drove in the direction she had headed and found her lying on the shoulder of the road.